World Of Wrestling

The Road to Wrestlemania has well and truly begun, the WWE’s annual Royal Rumble extravaganza kicked off the long and winding road to the biggest date on the wrestling calendar and did so in tremendous fashion and pulling together to make the start of WWE’s 2010, a one that we will remember for a very long time to come. We saw the best and most stable performance from The Undertaker for a very long time, Orton and Legacy have split, or have they, and the Rated R Superstar returned 3 months early to win his ticket to headline Wrestlemania this coming April.

Now in this week’s column I’ll basically be combining the Ryan Devlin Era with my Rumble review, purely because if I wrote two separate ones, they would just be a genesis of each other and would get very samey very quickly, so let us begin with the ECW Title match that kicked us off as usual. I thought this was a strange match booked, as just on WWE’s last PPV outing at Tables, Ladders and Chairs, the ECW title bout was one of the finest matches of the night, if not the finest. When Christian took on Shelton Benjamin [whom always shines when put on PPV] in a ladder match. Now just two months later [I know, I can’t believe it’s been that long either, good on WWE for that however] Christian is defending his belt in just your everyday standard match against Ezekiel Jackson. However though, this match was solid, and I never thought that before this match got going I’d be admitting that, it was hard hitting, quite exciting and during the most part of the contest, there was no way in hell of judging who’d walk out with the lightest belt in the WWE universe. That’s what made this match, and the rest of the card special, there was no way of judging who’d walk out victorious, and again, well done to WWE for playing the right deck of cards for once in a while.

It had to end sometime and Christian did walk out victorious and his “extremely” successful ECW title reign continues, albeit it doing nothing for his career or were Captain Charisma should actually be sitting in the WWE roster, which is at the very top.

The most pointless match of the night was immediately following this, and a hilarious sing-along of Pants on the Ground from Teddy Long too Cryme Time, the last minute addition to the card, a singles match for the United States title, The Miz defending against MVP. Ok, it was not only the worst match of the night, but it cluttered up the card, felt rushed and there was no room or need to actually add it to the card. Not that either The Miz or MVP was ever going to successfully win the Royal Rumble later in the night, but seeing them once is enough. Instead of leaving this match to the Elimination Chamber PPV next month or even show it on Raw sometime in the coming weeks, but it made the PPV bland and shaded a dark cloud over the rest of the PPV. Like many I’m sure I would have much preferred not to see this match on this PPV, but rather on the next PPV event were matches like this will be few and far between. But thankfully The Miz successfully defeated MVP and is still the US champion, now with one of the best personas on the roster and amazing entrance music, this guy is heading to the top, but god knows how long it will be until we see The Miz headline Wrestlemania if ever.

Again next was yet another solid match between Randy Orton and the WWE Champion Sheamus with the gold on the line. Not surprising that the sold out crowd warmed to Orton as the baby face in this feud, and got a very big pop from the crowd, and I tell you this, when Orton breaks his heel persona and turns face, he’ll be the biggest merchandise machine in the whole of the WWE and one of the biggest names in the world of wrestling. Now the past few weeks I have made and heard many complaints about how WWE are booking their world champion, the Jamie Noble killer, and cruiserweight destroyer, it really is disgraceful, but for once tonight, WWE book him correctly, sort of. In a bloody good wrestling match that was cut short thanks too, you guessed it, interference by Legacy member Cody Rhodes. The end of Legacy? I think so, it wouldn’t have looked so bad if Rhodes hadn’t attacked the Irish Born champ from behind clear blank in front of the ref. I must say I loved the drama of this segment and it made me sit back and really watch, especially when Orton was beating down Rhodes, I did expect Ted DiBiase to come down and really take out Orton but that never happened sadly.

Now this wouldn’t be the Ryan Devlin era without throwing in my guest booker stance at this time, as I think I would have booked this one a little differently. I would have had Sheamus win on his own accord, but with Legacy member Rhodes outside, distracting Orton for Sheamus to hit the big boot for the clean win. Having got the win, Orton just like he was, gets pissed and attacks Rhodes, but is saved by DiBiase whom hits an RKO to Orton and leaves with partner Cody Rhodes on top of their mentor. This would have made the young stars look strong over the viper rather than the scarred little pussy cats they were made to look, and best of all, Orton would turn face, DiBiase and Rhodes could carry out their cocky heel gimmick, which would eventually turn into a successful tag team title reign, because to be fair, they deserve a run with the belts over DX anyway. That would be my take on the situation.

But on with the rest of the PPV, and up next was the most pleasant surprise WWE could have delivered to me on a Sunday night. Mickie James making a fool of both Layla and Michelle McCool in the shortest but no doubt one of the finest moments WWE creative pulled off. However it wouldn’t have been so had McCool and Layla not embarrassed Mickie that little bit extra before the match, but when Mickie’s music hit, and the crowd went wild, she immediately took out Layla and destroyed McCool with one quick DDT for the win.

But that wasn’t all; the likeable Diva’s came to the ring with a giant cake and smashed it into the sickened faces of the most hated divas in the company, a great moment worthy for the PPV. But I can’t help but feel that in years to come, Mickie will tell the truth about this angle, and how it’s turned into something far worse than just sports entertainment. But thank heavens that disastrous angle is now dead and buried, thank the lord. I could have used so many quirky puns to go with the finish of this angle, so I think I’ll just go with this one, it looks like Michelle McCool finally got her just deserts.

And finally in the under card of this event, the best match of the night bar the Rumble of course, The Undertaker vs. Rey Mysterio with the dead man’s World Heavyweight Title on the line. I can safely say that this was the best match the Undertaker has put on since his epic encounter with Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania. Not that it was any comparison in the slightest but this was still a great match, and a lot better paced than some of his other matches with the title, in which he basically looked crocked and weak. Many including myself thought Mysterio would be a bad opponent for him with his fast paced style, but it couldn’t have been more different. Yes, Taker was struggling to keep up a little, but he put down an excellent effort and finished with a thunderous Last Ride to finish of the little big man. Taker definitely showed why he is still one of the best at what he does, even with the age, and the lighter work rate.

But what can be said about this years Royal Rumble, always the top attraction to the PPV, and probably the most entertaining matches to watch on the wrestling calendar, who’d have thought putting 30 men throwing each other over the top rope would such a hit? Whether it be the unstoppable CM punk taking out everyone in his path, and delivering some kick ass hilarious promo’s whilst doing so, or Triple H being eliminated by his DX partner with a huge super kick throwing the Game over the top rope, or could it be the demise of HBK’s dream of challenging The Undertaker at Wrestlemania [which I might add, I was very happy to see get knocked on the head]. That’s one match that should be left in the history books as one of the best, not over sold to us again the year after, we know Taker will never lose at Mania, and we know it will do last years match no justice.

But for me personally, the top attraction of the night was the return of the Rated R superstar, Edge, returning earlier than scheduled [no surprise there] and winning the Royal Rumble. Had this not been leaked onto the internet a few days prior to the PPV, I would have been shaking at the concept of Edge coming back, let’s just hope Jericho captures one of the belts at the Elimination Chamber so the two can finally go one on one at Mania, and give the return of Edge the hype it deserves.

It was an excellent surprise win, however during the course of the most unpredictable Royal Rumble in years; it did turn out to be, in retrospect, very predictable.

Rumble Rating! – 80%

Ryan Devlin.

Another year, another Rumble, but for the first WWE PPV of 2010, their seems to be a new era looming in the air, I can feel it, I can smell it, and to be honest, I’m shaking as to what tonight’s no doubt “historic” Royal Rumble will bring to us. For the first time in many a recent year, we have a 30 man over the top rope Rumble that in all honesty, is impossible to predict. Let’s have a look back at the past few winner’s starting with four years ago, the 2006 Rumble winner, Rey Mysterio, to prove just how stale the second biggest WWE event of the year has gotten. I have nothing against Mysterio, he was given a good draw and a top push for this win, entering at number 2 and being the longest running man ever to be inside the Royal Rumble match, this was as exciting as it has been for the last few years, but in all honesty, who else was actually in the Rumble that year who wasn’t either, a. A well known star who’s accolades wouldn’t really be hurt for not winning it, or b. a Young up and coming star ready to take the helm and headline the biggest event on the wrestling calendar? That’s correct, zilch, no’ one.

Then in 2007, it was the year that the dead man would reign supreme on the battle royal, he entered at number 30, and was only in the match for an astonishing 13 minutes, however that been said, it was a hell of a lot longer than the next years winner. Not that this really made a difference to his career, it was an easy way to push The Undertaker straight into the top half of the Wrestlemania card and keep his winning streak in tact, which resulted in one of Takers better Mania bouts against Batista, but still, there was really no point in it, WWE could have booked him in the main event without a Rumble win, and in all fairness, no’ body would have cared any less about the match itself.

And 2 years go, the rumours were circulating around the internet for weeks prior that John Cena would be returning to the ring, and a high possibility it would be at the Rumble. Coming straight back from injury, WWE couldn’t have put him in there any earlier than they did, and they definitely couldn’t have left him wrestling in the ring for any longer than they did, and for the second year in a row, the winner of the Rumble was contestant number 30, the man who everyone knows in reality has the upper hand in winning the Rumble and this theory paid off for the second year running. Wow what a rush aye, no’ one saw that coming.

And finally last year, the winner was The Viper, Randy Orton, the man who had already had countless matches with Triple H prior to winning the Rumble and thanks to this win, once again all over in 2009; we saw a hell of a more than needed by those two. Again thanks to stupid booking into the Rumble, not pushing any younger talent for the best part of 2009 and making the next quadrant of WWE PPV main event’s boring as hell to watch, no matter what stipulation you planted on it, and god, we saw them all.

But then, we come to 2010, and we have a countless amount of possibilities to actually win the Royal Rumble, and young stars who are ready to step up and go the extra mile for the company, such names as John Morrison, R-Truth, Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes, Kofi Kingston, MVP and The Miz to name but a few. Guys that have, without any of us really noticing have really elevated themselves the last few months, and I’m so sure that if a guy like John Morrison were to win the Rumble tonight, the arena would blow up. That been said, I really don’t think that is going to happen, so read on to find out what my crazy mind has churned up and what I actually think will happen at the Royal Rumble later this evening.

Women’s Championship Match

Michelle McCool © vs. Mickie James

Let’s start quickly and briefly with the toilet break match that is the Women’s Championship. Possibly the worst and lowest angle WWE have ever taken on route with the Divas, Mickie James taking on Michelle McCool. God knows how many times I’ve read this either in a magazine or on the internet, but the way WWE have went on with this storyline, well, it just can’t end in a good way. For one, Mickie James, is not fat, she is to me anyway, just the right shape, but for young girls who watch the product, they’ll say to themselves, that’s fat? They’ll think that people the size of Mickie is fat and will get bullied in school but this is certainly not the case. In the long run, this really is a bad move on behalf of WWE, and to be perfectly honest, I can actually see them being stupid enough to have McCool retain her title tonight, I seriously hope that’s not the case and they go the right way about it, i.e., Mickie gets her revenge and shows McCool actually how to wrestle a match to become the new Women’s Champ, but from past experience, that’s just not going to happen.

Prediction – Mickie James

ECW Championship Match

Christian © vs. Ezekiel Jackson

I’m going to be honest with you here, I haven’t really ever watched ECW the past couple of weeks so I have no idea how this feud is going, but let’s face it, would WWE ever be dumb enough to put the belt on Jackson, and even worse, taking it from the well over champion Christian, a man who can headline a PPV himself never mind fighting on the lower card for ECW against such a clot like Jackson. To be honest, yes I can, in spite of what Christian has risked in coming back to the WWE, I really can see it happening unfortunately, but for morale support, there is no chance in hell I would ever predict for Christian to drop the belt tonight, no matter how much I think it will happen.

Prediction – Christian

World Heavyweight Championship

The Undertaker © vs. Rey Mysterio

I can see this being one of the better matches of the night, bar of course the Rumble itself, but when you look at my prediction later on in this column for the Rumble, you’ll realise why I don’t want to give to much away so early on in this prediction. I don’t think the Mysterio giant killer gimmick will pay off tonight anyway, for me Taker will retain tonight and head to Mania for one last time to defend his World Title in the main event, as in reality and looking forward 14 months into the future, this really could be his last Wrestlemania to defend his streak in.

Prediction – The Undertaker

WWE Championship Match

Sheamus © vs. Randy Orton

Another huge misfit in the WWE card regime, this time last year Royal Rumble 2009, would we have ever thought that the Celtic warrior Sheamus would be defending his WWE Title in the sub main event to the seasoned Randy Orton tonight? Hell no! In fact, it is title runs like this one that gives me a lot of hope for the next year ahead, if Sheamus can carry the top title in WWE, then most of the mid card roster can. Guys like John Morrison, R Truth and MVP could all head along to main event city and carry the world title on their respected brand.

However back onto this match, it should be interesting to see the crowd’s reaction. Who will the crowd route for, two hated heels going one on one for the title, regardless of who wins, they’ll probably not be best pleased. But as it has showed for the last few weeks, Orton has been getting some hot crowd reactions, and well, no’ one in the US but many likes Sheamus, Im sure, the crowd will be praying for Orton to win the title tonight, but as much as it’s near guaranteed, I’m going to bet against it, as I am truly convince Sheamus will drop the belt in the Elimination Chamber next month.

Prediction – Sheamus

30 Man Royal Rumble

Ok, so as I said before, this years Rumble really is as close to unpredictable as it will ever be, will it be a watered down old veteran such as Shawn Michaels, or will WWE pull together and give one lucky young star the biggest push of their careers like Ron Killings or even the Friday Night Delight, John Morrison?

Nope, my pick for the Royal Rumble 2010 is Bret Hart.

Now before you all track down my email with thunderous rants on why he can’t wrestle, he can’t win the rumble, he can’t challenge for the title as it would require a full on wrestling match, hear me out.

Picture this; it’s down to the last two men before entrant number 30 comes out. It’s Triple H and Shawn Michaels, the final two, the end of DX as we know it, and out of no’ were HBK super kick’s The Game over the top rope, and before the clock hits one, Bret Harts original music hits, Michaels is looking everywhere, Hart isn’t coming down the ramp, but he’s coming in through the live crowd, and throws Michaels out from behind. This taking no real effort of wrestling at all.

Then the next night on Raw, the first person we see is The Hitman himself, coming to Raw on his own accord, and instead of Vince calling Bret back to Raw, the Royal Rumble winner Bret Hart calls McMahon out. Instead of a World Title shot, Bret wants Vince at Mania in a street fight; again, no real wrestling involved here, just heavy blows and usage of weapons around the stadium of Phoenix.

This would give the runner up at the Rumble Shawn Michaels the chance to get the Undertaker at Wrestlemania and jump to Smackdown, hence breaking up D-Generation X as we know it, after a long and very painful to watch run together.

It was rolling through my mind for hours the other day, I was trying to think of how everything WWE have been talking about could come into tact, and it kept pulling me back into this finale, no matter how hard I tried, I was going round and round in circles until this ending almost every time came to my head.

Prediction – Bret Hart

[Similar scenes later tonight?]

I hope everyone enjoys the Rumble tonight and we wake up tomorrow morning to a totally different scene in the WWE, but we can only see what creative has in store for us this time round.

Ryan Devlin.

So, once again the Hogan/Bischoff era hits TNA hard in the goolies in a matter of weeks. Bringing in Hogans tagalongs was once thing, putting Sean Morley on PPV was another, tyring to control the crowd reaction at a live Impact taping, well, I think that speaks for itself, but, the time had finally come, for weeks the rumours had been circulating, and for weeks, TNA diehards were fearing what was to come, but on January 17th 2010, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff have officially scrapped TNA’s signiture 6 sided ring and brought in the traditional four sided one. However, going off topic from the review here, I can confirm, courtesy of a Jeremy Borash interview, TNA will be bringing over the 6 sided ring for their upcoming UK tour this week and next, so they haven’t officially scrapped it for good, or for the moment at least.

It was a move that made me, and obviously an arena filled with TNA fans extremely mad, and in a way, kind of ripped off, as during the first segment of the first PPV of 2010, in which Hulk Hogan and Bischoff introduced the new iMPACT Zone and four sided ring to the world, was met by mass chants around the venue of “we want six sides”. This made me very worried about the rest of the PPV, and how the crowd would react to this mass change in the TNA direction of 2010. In Hogans own words, they both had to leave the scripted promo to go solo and defend their move to scrap the TNA branded ring by saying, “six sides only got you so far, but WE are now taking you straight to the top”, however this didn’t really brand well with the “TNA Maniacs” as they still booed this new move. I think I speak for the world when I say I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in Dixie Carter’s office when she was watching this epic start to the PPV.

In fact the only thing that picked Hogan’s shattered speech up off the floor was his final act of salvation to please the live crowd, was his dig at the WWE, in which he shouted, “Whatcha gonna do Vince McMahon now that TNA are coming for YOU, Brother…or Sister”, referring to the fact that now they have a four sided ring they are competition to the WWE, were as they weren’t before hand, not the most productive way to kick off your first PPV of 2010, and it left me in fear of what was to come.

This and Bischoff telling poor JB that he needs to take a break and that he is going to be taken off television for a while, at this point my heart sank, JB is a massive part of TNA TV and they have just thrown him away to be sidelined. Only to be, what was planned to be replaced by the worst broadcaster TNA have ever placed on our screens, Bubba the Love Sponge, seriously? Although thanks to his recent comments on Twitter regarding the Haiti disaster and his backstage punch up with Awesome Kong, I doubt that will be happening any time soon.

Anyway, enough of the complaining, let’s get onto the in ring action we had on the show, which was kicked off in the usual X Division style, the champion Amazing Red taking on a mystery opponent . And it was a very pleasant surprise to find out it was indeed former WWE star Brian Kendrick making his TNA debut, a fantastic coup for TNA in my mind, as the crowd absolutely loved him and he got a pretty good pop for been a low mid carder from the WWE. However, this couldn’t have been a worst placed opener for TNA. For years the 6 sided ring has been the corner stone of the X Division, and for years the X Division has been the corner stone for TNA, without either TNA is just another promotion, and this shown badly in this match. Putting this match in a six sided ring would have been perfect, but in front of a heated crowd which clearly aren’t mad on the new four sided ring kind of left a sour taste in the eyes of the fans. However had this match been placed a little higher up the card and could have let the fans to get used to the new ring style, it would have been one of the best matches of the night, which it was, prior to the crowd not really into the new style.

However once at the end of this first bout, the arena was left with nothing but smiles and both Red and Kendrick put on a perfect performance, which clearly set the iMPACT Zone alight once more. A pretty cool match to start the new TNA regeim and even though Red was the successful winner, retaining his X Division Title, the addition of Brian Kendrick to the X Division should sway a few new fans and we shall definitely look out for a new champ in the near future.

So the next two segments/matches shot down everything TNA had just won back with the X Division match. As it was leaked onto the internet hours before the PPV had even started, we knew that Scott Hall didn’t want to compete in his tag match against Beer Money, so he shouted a groin injury and limped out of the match, however truth be told, sources close to Hall say he tried putting on the trunks again a couple of days before and was not happy with his physical appearance going into the PPV. So instead, TNA wrote him out of the match through the most pathetic of ways, a game of Rock, Paper Scissors, between Hall and Sean Waltman, in which Waltman obviously ended up winning. Then following this was the very stiff effort between Sean Morley [Val Venus to the readers who have no idea who the hell he is] and Daniels. It was another one of those moments in which my heart sank for another TNA original like Christopher Daniels. Last month he was headlining the Final Resolution PPV against AJ Styles for the World Title [which was a brilliant match I might add], and now he’s been reduced to jobbing for bloody Sean Morley. All I have too say is, Hogan, Bischoff, please don’t throw away great talent like Christopher Daniels for the likes of Sean Morley, please.

Then came the first of two back to back title changes. The first of which was the 2 out of 3 falls match between the Knockouts Champion ODB and the former champ, Tara. In what actually was a very good Knockouts match and for first time TNA PPV buyers for the Hogan debut, I’m sure it was a very pleasant change from the “barbie dolls” you see on WWE PPVs from time to time. However, it was a very big surprise to see Tara reclaim the Women’s belt after defeating “One Dirty Bitch” as she’s so profoundly named, 2 falls to nil. A match booked to show Tara’s dominance? That’s what I thought, however news broke this week it was because sadly, ODB is suffering from a burst breast implant, which is why she dropped the belt to the former Diva and will be getting it healed after this set of Impact tapings, this is also the reason why she will not be appearing on the upcoming UK tour.

And secondly, the TNA Tag Team Title match which was placed quite early on in the PPV compared to past events, between The British Invasion and the pumped up mega team of Hernandez and “The Blueprint” Matt Morgan. Which, all in all was a pretty decent tag team match, a stiff British style effort from the invasion and a very powerful show from the two future main eventers. It did what it was supposed to do and that was make Morgan and Hernandez out to be a force that can’t be stopped, and after such an impressive match the message was delivered loud and clear. I really hate to keep bringing up the tour in this interview but another mistake on the part of TNA booking team, wouldn’t you have thought to push Hernandez and Morgan a little more as a team rather than what went down, and wouldn’t you have thought it would be wise to have The Brits cross over the pond for the tour with their tag team belts in tact? I do anyway.

Then came the return match from the live January 4th Impact, Desmond Wolfe, who was kitted out with some new ring attire and a very fine lady friend to keep him company when walking to the ring, and the charismatic funnyman, The Pope, D’Angelo Dinero. All I want you too do is think about their January 4th match, then times the time span of that match by about five and that is basically what you have in this one. An excellent show of wrestling from both men, in which Wolfe ended up scoring the pin [which was kind of inevitable anyway] via a powerful clothesline out of know were. But even though the Pope lost this one, it hasn’t done anything to his credibility with already a win under his belt to Desmond Wolfe, and he did put on the more entertaining of performances out of the two wrestlers.

According to the video package shown before the next match, it was actually The Band who attacked all the TNA stars from behind on January 4th, which included Beer Money among those stars, which eventually, after a 3 on 1 attack from all three members of the old timer faction led to the following match. Beer Money Inc vs. Kevin Nash and Sean Waltman now known as Sixx Pac. One thing can be said on the defense of Sean Waltman, when he arrived at the arena that day, he had no idea he was going to compete, thanks to Scott Hall, and I would like to congratulate him on getting in such amazing shape compared to the state he was in couple of years ago. Going into this match I had a massive straining fear that Beer Money would job to this team that still weren’t in their prime ten years ago, but thankfully my worries were put at ease as Robert Roode and James Storm carried the stiff veterans through the hole match and worked it well, ending in a very well deserved win, thanks to an accidental distraction from Scott Hall “attacking a fan” from behind the guard rail. Ahh good old Scott Hall.

And finally we got to see who TNA had been hiding away all week, the newest acquisition to the TNA roster, whom would be wrestling “The Monster” Abyss after Abyss had attacked Lashley earlier on in the broadcast for stepping up to Eric Bischoff for not wanting to do the match. And, it was the most unsurprising surprise you would think of, former WWE star, Ken Anderson AKA Mr Kennedy now know as Mr Anderson, cutting an absolutely excellent promo before the match at the top of the ramp and to my surprise the crowd absolutely loved him. Screaming along to his trademark MRRRRRRR ANDERSON! thing. It was certainly one of the most memorable TNA debuts in a very very long time. But quickly crossing the borderline of heel/babyface after playing to the crowd before the match, to slapping Abyss in the face and finishing him off with the brass knuckles to score the win over the monster. A future TNA World Champion as promised? O definitely as if he stayed/wasn’t fired by the WWE, he would no doubt be in line for a world title shot over there, so why not in TNA.

And finally, our main event of the evening, the last chance match for Kurt Angle, taking on the TNA World Heavyweight Champion, “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles. Was this match better than their epic encounter on January 4th, hell yeah! Without any shadow of doubt this was the match of the PPV which had the shock ending no’one saw coming. But let’s talk about the greatness of the wrestling on show hear first, a masterpiece of showmanship on the part of the greatest wrestler alive today Kurt Angle, scoring moonsaults, perfect Angle slams from the top rope, and even hitting Styles with his own Styles Clash cemented with a classic Wooo for good measure. This match was a one that TNA will never forget and suited the new four sides perfectly. And with “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair at ringside routing for our world champion, the match couldn’t have been made more perfect.

NOW… let’s get on with the ending, with an assist from Ric Flair, Styles won the title, by smashing Angle in the face with his World Title and scoring the cheap win. AJ Styles has taken a major 360 swerve on the world and turned heel on the Olympic gold medalist, with a picture to end all wrestling pictures to finish the new style of TNA PPV. If I had told you last year that at Genesis 2010, you would see AJ Styles and the Nature Boy woooing in the centre of a 4 sided ring and strutting down the isle to the back with the TNA World Heavyweight Title, hell, I think i would be a millionaire right now if I’d put the right money on that, what an excellent way to end the PPV, and shows the groundwork of a long and great AJ/Flair reign at the top of TNA. Presumabley ending at a final final final retirement match at Bound for Glory between Flair and Sting [AJ's former babyface mentor].

Now all this aside I have one quibble with the booking of this show, you had Waltman, Hall, Anderson, Sean Morley, and Kendrick, but were are your Samoa Joe’s, Jay Lethal’s, Homicides, Eric Young’s, Motor City Machineguns, the people that TNA diehards really want to see over any of the above talent mentioned, maybe except Anderson.

So many questions are left to keep you keen on TNA in the future, what of Angle? What of Flair and AJ? And possibly the most important question of all to end the show, What of the six sided ring?

Only time will tell as to whether this new style will work, judging from our main event on show tonight, it certainly will, but what about the rest? We shall only have to wait and see.

TNA Genesis 2010 Rating – 70%

Match of the PPV – AJ Styles w/ Ric Flair defeats Kurt Angle – TNA World Heavyweight Title.

Chumps of the PPV – Hulk Hogan/Scott Hall.

Ryan Devlin.

OK, first PPV in pro wrestling of 2010 gets underway in a matter of hours, so it seems like the perfect time to do what only i can do best, and deliver a hopefully quite accurate preview and prediction column on the show ahead. As always there are two ways to read these columns and no doubt you’ll be using one of those as we speak, either my very own handcrafted worldofwrestling.net, or the illustrious wrestlehustle.com, however, before I bore you all into a comba, let us get under way as time is ticking by before bell time later tonight.

Sean Morley vs. Christopher Daniels

If someone else finds this feud weird please give me a holla, mainly because from the way Morley was portraying his “new” character on Impact, he talked like a heel, a porn staring heel, with the ambition to destroy a pro wrestling company with his cheaply made adult orientated films. Then here comes “heel” Daniels, a TNA original with only one purpose, save TNA from Morley’s brand of crap and making a mockery of what TNA is trying to achieve. Really what’s going on here.

This isn’t going to be my must see bout of the night,m but with everything else that’s coming along with this event, I can’t see anyone remembering Genesis 2010 as the night Daniels and Sean Morley made history, but hopefully Morley can keep up to pace with Daniels and should deliver what’s probably going to be a fairly quick but enjoyable match.

Prediction – Christopher Daniels.

Bobby Lashley vs. “The Monster” Abyss

I hope/think TNA are using this match at the first in the “get rid of Bobby Lashley” series.  As he’s more than likely going to either A, get fired by the company for bad attitude, or B, leave the company on his own accord to pursue his failing MMA dream. After taking himself off the UK tour to fight for Strikforce, this didn’t go down well with Hogan and has even said Lashley needs to make a choice between the two.

I would love nothing more than to see Abyss destroy Lashley tonight, babyface or heel, and send his lethargic ass straight down to Strikeforce.

Prediction – “The Monster” Abyss

X Division Title Match

Amazing Red (c) vs. Mystery Opponent.

I’m going to have my stab in the dark guess here but with this guy already in Orlando as we speak, and already a former TNA employee back in the day, my guess would be former WWE star The Brian Kendrick will debut for TNA tonight, but I very much doubt TNA would put the belt on him on his debut against someone like Red.  But which ring name will he debut under, Brian Kendrick or his former TNA name, Spanky? Hopefully Brian Kendrick will make an appearance, but Spanky can walk a mile.

Prediction – Amazing Red

TNA Knockouts Title

ODB (c) vs. Tara

So Tara lost here title in these two’s first rematch for the title, and so yet another ODB/Tara match has been booked for tonight, but seriously, would TNA book another Knockouts Title change again? Yes, they probably would, but for me, especially with all the new TNA viewers and the new audience that TNA have attracted to buy this PPV, TNA, looking to the future would be much better off with the flamboyant ODB as their champion rather than the tear jerker Tara.

Don’t get me wrong tara is a good worker and a top notch Knockout, but for a women to spearhead a division of women wrestlewrs, ODB is the one for the job.

Prediction – ODB

Desmond Wolfe vs. “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero

A standard singles bout booked from their match on the January 4th edition of Impact, in which The Pope, picked up a surprise win over the British veteran. Then in a kayfabe interview during the post Impact press conference the challenge was made by both men to fight n this night, hopefully it will be a longer match than the one on Impact but it should be a fun mid show match.

I would really love The Pope to get a win here, but I can’t see it happening, but even with a loss, i shan’t think it would heard his credibility, were as Desmond Wolfe AKA Nigel McGuinness it yet t pick up a win on a TNA PPV, so his time is due.

Prediction – Desmond Wolfe

Tag Match

Beer Money Inc. vs. Kevin Nash & Scott Hall

Another match that has been flung together as a last minute job and the worst part abut this match is, I can actually see “The Band” defeating Beer Money tonight. Maybe bringing Scott Hall and Sean Waltman in was to elevate the younger teams, but the only thing I can see Hall elevating in his new TNA tenure is a whiskey bottle.

One last rant, well two, wouldn’t it look better if they had put Sean Waltman and Nash together to wrestle Beer Money? And have Hall as a ring side manager type figure? However, rant two, I really am dreading to see Hall in his ring gear, if it’s anything like he’s looked on Impact, it’s sure to look just terrible.

Prediction – Kevin Nash & Scott Hall

TNA World Tag Team Titles Match

The British Invasion (c) vs. Hernandez & Matt Morgan

Surley it’s too soon to put the tag straps over the shoulders of the two biggest guys in TNA today? To be honest, i really don’t see the point in the team, why on earth would you put two guys who are well over with the fans, and just on the verge of exploding onto the world title scene full time, and throw everything you’ve worked for away and put them together to work as a team? They just aren’t compatible in anyway shape or form, and would do much better as singles competitors, and with the upcoming UK tour starting next week, surely the Brits will go onto their home turf with the Tag Title belts.

Prediction – The British Invasion

TNA World Heavyweight Title

AJ Styles (c) vs. Kurt Angle

I’m just going to put my prediction out there right now fir this one, I think just before the match starts, either Hogan or Bischoff will come out and introduce the new acquisition to be either Goldberg, RVD or Ken Anderson, changing the match to a tripl;e threat match with the winner been the brand new guy.

This would mean Angle will get another shot sometime in the future with the champ not being AJ, and start off a feud between the newers guy and AJ and Angle.

Prediction – Mystery New Acquisition

Ryan Devlin

Special news for all the UK TNA fans who are attending their next tour which kicks off next Saturday [23rd Jan] in Glasgow, Scotland.

A couple of months ago, TNA Wrestling anounced one special match for each one of the dates, but now we have even more confirmed matches to add to the tour and the full card of TNA talent apearing on the tour.

It’s also worth noting, both Alex Shelley & Bobby Lashley have been taken off the tour and replaced in the matches they were set to apear in.

[b]Glasgow Braehead Arena, Glasgow, Scotland – 23rd Jan[/b]

Matches

TNA World Title Match
AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe

Tag Team Tables Match
Team 3D vs. Matt Morgan & Hernandez

Four Way X Division Match
Amazing Red vs. Chris Sabin vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Suicide

[b]Bournemouth International Centre, Bournemouth, England – 26th Jan[/b]

Matches

TNA World Title Match
AJ Styles vs. Desmond Wolfe

I Quit Match
Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe

Four Team Tag Match
The British Invasion w/ Big Rob Terry vs. Team 3D vs. Beer Money vs. Hernandez & Matt Morgan

[b]Cardiff International Centre, Cardiff, Wales – 27th Jan[/b]

Matches

TNA World Title Match
AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe

UK vs. USA Tag Match
British Invasion vs. Beer Money

Special Challenge for TNA Global Title
Eric Young vs. Big Rob Terry

[b]Coventry Skydome, Coventry, England – 28th Jan[/b]

Matches

TNA World Title Match
AJ Styles vs. Desmond Wolfe

Gauntlet Tag Match
World Elite vs. Beer Money, The Pope & Suicide

Knockouts Tag Title Match
Awesome Kong & Hamada vs. Taylor Wilde & Sarita

[b]Manchester M.E.N Arena, Manchester, England – 29th Jan[/b]

Matches

Three Way Ladder Match, TNA World Title
AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe

Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe

Team 3D vs. Hernandez & Matt Morgan

[b]London Wembley Arena, London, England – 30th Jan[/b]

Matches

X Division Ultimate X [First ever outside of the US]

Amazing Red vs. “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero vs. Chris Sabin vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Suicide

TNA World Title Match
AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle

TNA Tag Team Titles
The British Invasion w/ Big Rob Terry vs. Beer Money

Full List Of Talent Apearing on the Tour!

TNA World Heavyweight Champion, AJ Styles
Kurt Angle
Samoa Joe
Desmond Wolfe
Christopher Daniels
Matt Morgan
Hernandez
Abyss
TNA Tag Team Champions,The British Invasion
TNA Global Champion, Eric Young
TNA X Division Champion, Amazing Red
Chris Sabin
Suicide
TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions, Awesome Kong & Hamada
The Pope, D’Angelo Dinero
Team 3D
Taylor Wilde
Sarita

& More

Others such as Dixie Carter, Mick Foley and Jeff Jarret will more than likely be playing more inactive parts on the tour, rather than wrestling, but whether Hulk Hogan will be on the tour is yet to be confirmed. More than likely not, as it would have been anounced in this anouncement if he was coming over.

Ryan Devlin.

This past week has been a great week in terms of relationships in the beautiful world of pro wrestling, on both sides of the wrestling promotion side.

Starting with TNA Wrestling, Knockout and Playboy model Traci Brooks and Frankie Kazarian [Kaz & Suicide] were recently married this week with TNA stars and a WWE star in attendance. AJ Styles and Samoa Joe were both groomsmen whilst former X Division champion Christopher Daniels was the best man. As for Traci, she had TNA Knockouts, So Cal Val and Christy Hemme as bridesmaids along with WWE Diva, Gail Kim.

Christopher Daniels commented on this celebratory affair by posting the following on his Twitter account:

“Frankie and Traci’s wedding was a beautiful affair.

“Some tears were shed, but the joy overflowed!! Absolutely fabulous!!”

Whilst also on the WWE side, WWE Intercontinental Champion and fellow British resident Drew McIntyre [Drew Galloway] got engaged to WWE Diva Tiffany, the lucky so and so.

It’s also worth noting that on Christmas Day, TNA Knockout, Christy Hemme got engaged to her fiance after he proposed to her.

I would to send my congratulations to all the happy couples.

Some photos from Traci and Kaz’s happy day are below:

Ryan Devlin

On Monday January 4^th, 2009, the world new on the dawn of that morning, history was going to be made by both rival wrestling promotions in the United States, and for better or for worse, the wrestling world will see in a brand new decade, with a new face start for pro wrestling, and with the actions, and the events that took place on that very same night, pro wrestling will likely, never be the same again.

For WWE it was just another week at the office, adding another shimmer to their mighty crown as the longest running episodic television broadcast in history, but for TNA, it was the first shot, a small time promotion started nearly 8 years ago, holding weekly PPVs to minor crowds inside the Nashville Fairgrounds, were going LIVE, for the first time ever on a Monday night, and attempting to take on the biggest wrestling promoter and company in the history of the sport. And with them, came the biggest name in professional wrestling history, the man who revolutionised the business, and the man who, on October 27^th 2009, shocked the world all over again by signing the biggest deal of the decade, yes, I’m talking about none other than the Immortal one, Hulk Hogan.

For a company like TNA, going live is one major step for the reasonably still new promotion, but doing it on wrestling’s most famous night of the week, and doing it against Monday Night Raw, a show that has taken down the likes of ECW and WCW in the process, and, doing it in the space of a 3 hour time slot, a risky move indeed, but a one that paid off, or at least it did in terms of the quality of their product.

So let’s get this comparison review on the road, after all, it’s not every week, we will get the privilege to do a two for one offer here you know, or at least for the time being until those most anticipated ratings come in tomorrow night.

TNA already having the upper hand over WWE in the battle of wrestling superiority, having started their show 1 hour before Raw starts gives them the edge, as most WWE fans, or at least you would have thought, would give TNA a chance for at least one hour before their show came on the air. With this strategy, you would think TNA couldn’t possibly flop this one up, especially when your opening bout is one of TNA’s home grown and most dangerous matches to host, the X Division’s Steel Asylum. Not only that, but with the line-up of talent in the red steel cage, along with the red hot Impact Zone crowd, what could possibly go wrong in the first segment? That’s what I thought.

The match was very fast paced and shown the newcomers to TNA just what the X Division is all about, major high spots, and showing off the circus act, so to speak, of what most of the X Division can accomplish. However, it’s cheap and lazy booking that let this opener down, with Homicide, whipping out a metal stick and taking out every X Division superstar standing, making the match end by a no contest. If this wasn’t embarrassing enough to witness in the first segment of TNA’s biggest night in company history, but the packed house at the Impact Zone, hoisting the roof off the arena chanting, “This is Bullshit”, not the best of times for TNA. But for those lucky fans who didn’t change the channel, they were in for the shock of the night, and the biggest shock of 2010 so far, the arrival of former WWE and TNA superstar, the charismatic Enigma, Jeff Hardy. Jumping ship from WWE to TNA and making his presence felt straight away, taking down the frantic Homicide with a steel chair shot and a Twist of Fate on the ramp, both of which were greeted with great screams from the crowd, and finishing with the shot of the night, Jeff Hardy standing [sitting] tall at the very top of the Steel Asylum. An added extra note from this, it was announced today that Jeff Hardy has indeed signed a new contract with TNA as a full time member of the roster, however, how this will affect his on going drugs trafficking trial is yet to be seen.

What seemed like a cheap angle, turned out to be a great return for Hardy, and shaped up a future feud between Homicide and Hardy in the coming weeks.

From there on, we saw the first Title match of the night, Tara in her first Knockouts Title defence against the former champ, ODB, and for those WWE fans watching, those of which used to “talent-less Barbie’s” playing in the ring, were in for a shock and a treat. Women who can actually wrestle and the first title change of 2010, as the strange booking of TNA continues and ODB regains her title.

And the surprises didn’t top there, when a long white limo pulled up outside the Impact Zone, was it Hogan? No. Was it Bischoff? No. It was the Nature Boy, Ric Flair, styling and profiling into Orlando, Florida, and straight into the locker room of the TNA World Heavyweight Champion, AJ Styles, what came of this, read on to find out.

And with some more new old faces arriving in the arena, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman to name but a few, coming in through the crowd to watch the Hulkster arrive in style, and the waiting was finally over, Hulk Hogan had arrived in TNA wrestling. The crowd going absolutely nuts for him, and why not indeed, he made this night become a reality and what started as a, “the future of TNA is the young talent”, soon became a ring full of former WCW talent and nWo members. Although this sounds dreadful, it worked and it kept people on edge to see what Hogan was actually going to do in TNA.

The segment was mainly used to introduce Hogan and his goals, and Mr Eric Bischoff in the process, whom ripped up the format sheet for the night and replaced it with a new one, leaving with one simple message, no matter who you are, or what you’ve done, everyone has to earn their spot on the roster, and if you don’t like it, pack your bags and head up north [To the WWE]

By this time however, Monday Night Raw had just came on the air and Bret “The Hitman” Hart had arrived in the WWE for the first time in 13 years. Geared up in only a manner the Hitman could get away with and calling out HBK Shawn Michaels to kick off WWE’s counter part show to TNA. It was hard to grasp the concept WWE were actually trying to get at here, Michaels playing the heel role to a tee, but the Hitman wanting to let bygones be bygones. No’ one actually apologises to Bret for screwing him over, but to be honest, at this stage in his life and career, I think he would rather it all be over. A heartfelt moment, with both men hugging and shaking hands by the end of it, maybe it’s not what we expected, but it sure touched everyone and was worth Bret coming in to do so.

And to be perfectly honest, bar the DX vs. Jeri-Show match, in which Chris Jericho impersonated Hulk Hogan during their match, a perfect touch to keep the dead Raw crowd going, well The Big Show absolutely loved it, there wasn’t an awful lot to report on the WWE Raw front, in fact the DX vs. Jeri-Show match didn’t even steal the show, that was left for Raw’s “main event” the Hart/McMahon showdown. Of course, with this being just another week for Raw, we couldn’t really have expected much more from them than the usual, with Bret Hart as an added bonus.

However, over on the other side of the channels, Jeff Jarret delivered one of the best promo’s of the night from both sides, on the growth of TNA, and how proud he was of his creation, “anything can, and anything will happen in T.N.A!”, Goosebumps and shivers tickle down my spine in the excitement and the involvement Jarret makes you feel apart of when delivering with such excellence, however, this was the moment, that made people wonder, Hogan confronting Jarret from the HD screen, and not in a good way. Jarret hasn’t any priority? He has to wait in line, tie up his boots and earn his spot on the TNA roster, and see if he can cut it with the young guys, the partnership is Hulk and Dixie, not Jeff, Hulk and Dixie, and I’m sure, myself included, this got a few tongues wagging backstage. But I’m sure the King of the Mountain will be up to the task.

Now, onto another topic from Impact I’d like to address, the confrontation between The Pope and Orlando Jordan, I have never been so proud to watch a Pope promo so much in my entire life, he reminded me so much of The Rock and stepped his mic skills up a couple of notches up to 11, at least, before going out and picking up a huge main event level win over Desmond Wolfe in the show’s second best match of the night. Well done Pope, surely an X Division Title shot is in order by now.

Before we head back over to Raw, TNA crowned new TNA Knockouts Tag Team champions tonight as well, as the unlikely unstoppable duo of Hamada and Awesome Kong defeated Sarita and Taylor Wilde in yet another impressive Knockouts match…someone should really give these gals their own show. Hint hint. And Matt Morgan and Hernandez picked up what could be TNA’s quickest ever win against Raven and Dr. Stevie after pummelling them both to the mat for the quick win. What a promising Tag Team they really are. The Nasty Boys brought their fair share of classic entertainment as well, and although many would love to disagree, I really wouldn’t mind seeing a Team 3D.Nasty Boys programme been thrown into the mix.

And now back to Raw, were we see the ever cocky WWE Champion Sheamus mouth up a bit about how Cena will not be getting a Title match come the Royal Rumble [Thank god], he wants a new opponent, someone he hasn’t faced, a new challenge. Bring out the high flying death defying Evan Bourne, whom challenges the ginger Irishman to a match, and as promised the Champion accepts the challenge from “little Evan Bourne”, and as promising as Bourne looks to pick up a win straight away, after taking Sheamus down and hitting his impressive Airbourne finisher, the Irishman quickly recovers and destroys the new little big man on the block with a huge Border Toss like finisher. Nice segment, but who will Sheamus face at the Rumble?

And finally in a double review, we must review both of each shows equally and with respect, well I’ll try. In one corner you have the truly epic World Title match on Impact between AJ Styles and Kurt Angle [Yes, they are still due to wrestle at Genesis don’t worry], and in the other you have Kofi Kingston taking on Randy Orton. To put it frank, these matches were no were near each other in quality, excitement and general wrestling amazing-ness. On a night were TNA had no choice but to step up, they couldn’t have booked a better main event, Impact going over time to cover the whole match and it was worth it, both for the wrestling fans who tuned into Impact and for the credibility of TNA’s booking system. And when the whole Impact Zone is chanting, “Who needs Bret” during your main event, you know you’ve impressed someone at least.

Now compare that to the bore-fest Raw was forced to be put through, it makes you sit back and wonder, which exactly is the highest rated “wrestling” show out of the two meant to be. Orton *surprise surprise*, picks up the shocker of a victory on Raw, pushing the ever more talented Kofi Kingston that little further back than he was the night before.

On the other hand, AJ Styles and Kurt Angle with Ric Flair watching from the top of the ramp, put on a wrestling frenzy out there and for the fans that were smart enough to watch Impact, were NOT disappointed. Hulk Hogan summed up the Match quite easily and very simply, “you two are the two best wrestlers in the business today”. How very true, the greatest wrestler alive today taking on the greatest wrestler alive in 10 years time.

However, the ending to both shows were the opposite of what I’ve just described those main event matches on show to be. On Raw you have Vince McMahon and Bret Hart going face to face live on free TV. And on Impact you had Mick Foley walking in on the Beautiful People’s game of strip poker with Val Venus, before being jumped by the nWo [Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, Kevin Nash and Eric Bischoff], before closing with a very pissed off Hulk Hogan close up, which side will Hogan choose, hopefully enough people will care to tune in on Thursday January 14^th for the next episode of Impact.

But again, on Monday Night Raw, the Vince/Bret face off was worth watching Raw alone, what seemed like a heartfelt promo from both Vince and Bret was a brilliant watch. Even Vince announcing the first inductee into this years Hall of Fame ceremony, the late great, Stu Hart, a nice gesture indeed to the Hart family. Admittedly, Vince McMahon with a tear in his eye: “Bret Hart, the best there was, the best there is, and the best there ever will be”. Totally perfect timing and a great way to finish Raw, before Vinnie Mac plants his big shoe into the testicular area of the Hitman. Ouch! Not the best way to end your reign as guest host, but the perfect set up to a brilliant angle which with a bit of luck, should last from now until that untimely street fight at Wrestlemania 26, Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon.

Now, after all of you have read this, you’ll probably think, what the hell is he talking about, Impact better than Raw, you must be joking, but here me out. Had Bret Hart not been the guest host on Raw, would it have even been half as good as it was? No. If Bob Barker had been this week’s host, the show would have been a laughing stock over what TNA put on. If you take away the Bret Hart/HBK opening and the Bret Hart/McMahon ending, you’re left with nothing. It’s like having a steak and kidney pie, then take out the gravy, then the steak, and then the kidneys and all your left with is the boring old stale pastry bread. Now I’m not saying Impact was a masterpiece by any means, Raw knocked it out of the park in terms of ending quality, but in terms of progression in the company, and the future, TNA got a one up, and no doubt earned themselves a ton more fans.

When the ratings come in tomorrow, my guess is Raw will have beaten Impact in the majority of the ratings, but all I could think about was the excitement of the two going head to head, and I know I am, and no doubt you are too hoping for a good result for TNA, because we can relive this excitement each and every week, and what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, and what’s good for the wrestling business, is good for the wrestling fans.

Ryan Devlin.

If you’re a younger fan of wrestling these days, you’ll probably only recognise the name Jeff Hardy for his most recent, and his most successful run in the WWE in 2009, before he left the company and got arrested that is. So if for example your one of those fans, you’ll probably have no inkling at all in your youthful mind that the charismatic enigma once was a top superstar in Total Non-stop Action Wrestling, nor would you probably know that is was that very company who inherited him with that nickname, and it was the very same company who brought together his glow in the dark face paint, which, in both circumstances, WWE couldn’t resist taking credit for both of those ploys when Hardy later returned to the big dog up north in 2006.

But, back when his TNA story started, Hardy was no doubt, the hottest free agent in 2004, and TNA, still at this point being a relatively small time promotion, holding it’s weekly show in the Nashville Fairgrounds, for a guy like Hardy to come in and sign a deal, was massive. This three and a half hour production, tipped to the top , crammed full of Hardy action in TNA is a must for any Hardy fan, and, well, for any wrestling fan interested in the TNA era, circa 2004/05. Starting off our Hardy party with his TNA debut [obviously] against “The Phenomenal One” AJ Styles, a true X Division dream match indeed, and the further this show goes, the more we see of AJ and Jeff as a compatible force, taking on the likes of “The Kings of Wrestling” [Jarret, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash] and the sinister like team, of Raven and “The Monster” Abyss.

Built around two major feuds in Jeff Hardy’s TNA career, Jeff Jarret and his taste for gold in the NWA Title race, to battling it out with the very same monster and psychopath, Raven. There’s indeed some classic Hardy bouts on here including the finale, Hardy vs. Raven in a Tables match inside the Six Sides of Steel at Lockdown, sound gimmicky? Well it was, but this match shines above the rest bar one, and is a great way to end probably the best three hours you can find in the TNA existence of Jeff Hardy. However, I did say bar one, the classic match on TNA’s first ever PPV event inside the Impact Zone, Orlando, Victory Road 2004, a Ladder Match for the NWA Title against Jeff Jarret, Jeff vs. Jeff, mind games on free spirit, this steals the DVD. Although Hardy didn’t walk out the victor, it’s still a match to note down in your diaries for one of Jeff’s finest hours in TNA, and worth signing up to the Video Vault to check out.

With matches involving the likes of Ron “R-Truth” Killings, AJ Styles, Kevin Nash, Jeff Jarret, Monty Brown, Randy Savage, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Scott Hall [Just try to skip past his singles match with Jeff, the least said about that utter travesty the better], Raven and Abyss, this collaboration has something for everyone, beit you love or hate TNA, they’ll be at least one great match in here for you to sink your teeth into. From the X Division, no limits, to classic free style wrestling, to some sinister and bloody action inside the six sided ring, I’m sure they’ll be something to tickle your fancy here.

I only have one quibble with this set, there is a distinct lack of interviews or backstage segments of Jeff and build up to any of the matches on show here, unlike the more recent Jeff Jarret DVD, which seemed to be compiled into what many could call the perfect wrestling DVD layout. It’s simply match after match in chronological order, and that’s it. Maybe you miss a majority put on the TNA Video Vault that you normally on their DVD release, but from what I saw, an interview with the likes of Jarret, Styles, The Truth and some TNA staff are much needed in this set to make this DVD worth your while, not even a word is spoken by the Enigma himself for his own release. If the Necro Butcher can put down an hour interview for his own low budget set, you would think TNA could put some comments on the disk for Hardy, wouldn’t you?

That all said and done, with the new 3 Disk Jeff Hardy set about to/in stores now, maybe you would be better spending your hard earned money on that release, although, you will get sit down interviews, and you will get at least 2 disks crammed with stellar matches, but, you won’t get the passion and privilege of watching a broken man rise to the top of a growing small time promotion, with some major legends involved. Or would you?

One thing can be noted about Jeff Hardy: Enigma however, from what’s on show for you here, it looks top me like Hardy could pull out another run with TNA, and complete the set.

Enigma – The Best of Jeff Hardy Rating! – 70%

Ryan Devlin.

Yes, I have made my life a hell of a lot easier to run a wrestling review website, what better way than to buy the entire TNA back catalogue and review everything on there. I have signed up for the TNA video vault, which, if heaven was a video content site, this baby would be it.

Just to let you know, we haven’t forgotten about the show that was in planning, that will be coming in the next few weeks, and the weekly reviews will be starting full time again next week, starting January 4th, yes, the big night, I have Goosebumps already just thinking about it, history will be made on January 4th this Monday, so make sure you either tune into WWE Raw or TNA Impact, if you’re a life long wrestling fan, you really do NOT want to miss this.

For the weekly reviews will be reviewing both Raw and Impact, and comparing them to how bad/awesome each one was to the other.

And our first “From The Vault” review will be posted tonight, for Enigma – The Best of Jeff Hardy [TNA].

Thanks for supporting us and always remember to drop me a feed back email, or leave a comment, as we thrive off your comments.

Thanks again,
Ryan Devlin.

The original plan was to do the top 10 matches of 2009, and don’t worry I have made a full list of 10 matches that made the cut in this years match of the year contendership. HOWEVER, in all fairness, not all of them, although they made the cut, deserved any kind of recognition for what they achieved. So anyway, without any further adieu, and time wasting, which bare in mind, we have had far to much of for my liking this year, lets get the ball rolling with the “World of Wrestling’s Top 5 Matches of 2009”.

1. AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe – TNA Turning Point 2009! 

Well what can be said about this absolute beast of a wrestling match to be frank. It was everything the perfect three way should be, perfect timing upon placement, perfect superstars to throw in the mix and a heroic performance from three god gifted wrestlers of this decade. This match couldn’t have come at a better time for TNA, right off the back of the signing of Hulk Hogan to the promotion and multiply that with the acceleration boost this match brought with it, and TNA are playing on a totally different level. If only every TNA main event this year could have been so perfectly slotted together as this one was.

In this business, when you watch a match, and it gives you shear Goosebumps and flashes a tear to your eye, well, you know your witnessing history. Was this match as good as their Unbreakable 2005 encounter, maybe, maybe not, that’s in the eyes of the beholder. The fact of the matter is, on September 11^th 2005, these three wrestling gods made history inside the Impact Zone and put that little promotion from Nashville onto the wrestling map, and now, four years later, when the promotion needed them the most they rose to the occasion in style and once again planted the TNA seed right into the centre core of the wrestling world, for the world to witness again.

2. Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels – WWE Wrestlemania 25!     

When wrestling fans around the globe read this column, you’ll probably say to yourself, how on earth could he rate this phenomenon of a match as the second greatest match of 2009? Many would rate this contest THE BEST in wrestling history, well, all I have to tell you is it was one of the toughest decisions I’ve had to make so far in rating something, and you don’t normally get that. I was so close to cracking, I almost flipped a coin to decide, but the truth is, after watching both matches again consecutively, one after the other; I had to choose AJ, Daniels, Joe two. But this match will go down in Wrestlemania history as one of the all time greats. As with the three way, when a tear falls from your cheek and your skin pigmentation looses it’s grip on reality, you know history is being made.

For those in attendance at the Reliant Stadium, it was a moment, a match, a globe spanning Phenom that they will never ever forget. Built around two men, from two separate brands, with the fans stuck bang in the middle; with no way in hell they could have predicted a winner. If one man was going to be booked to end Takers Mania streak, well, what better way than the Heart Break Kid. But in the end, after half an hour of pure, stainless wrestling, it was The Undertaker who would nab the victory in this Wrestlemania clash of the titans.

Who knows maybe we will see this match again at Wrestlemania 26, but would it really be the same the second time around? Probably not. And would The Undertaker lose in what’s probably going to be his last ever match? Probably not. So lets leave this one as a benchmark in wrestling history, with a gold platter drilled right into it.

3. Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe – TNA Turning Point 2009! 

Yes, from that very same PPV as the historic Three Way, now in all fairness to the TNA product, I would have loved to have chosen another match, from a different PPV, but what fate puts in front of us, and what we want is two totally different things. With the Main Event Mafia running TNA rapid over the most course of 2009, and holding onto the majority of the belts along the way, nothing from before Hard Justice really stuck out in my mind as a really good match, but since TNA’s turning point at No Surrender in September, the product has shifted a gear or two and looks to be on top form PPV wise for the rest of the due course.

Anyway, for a British wrestling fan like myself, it’s always nice to see a top UK star make it big in one of the big two wrestling promotions, so when the news hit that Nigel McGuinness AKA Desmond Wolfe had signed with TNA I had absolutely no inkling what so ever, that right from the bat, they would put him up with the best performer in the company, and for most [including myself] the greatest pro wrestling in the world today. So going into this years Turning Point, no one would tell me other wise; this was the match for me, a fantastic British talent against arguably the greatest wrestler alive. My dream match had been booked and I was ready to see history.

Everything about this match oozed professionalism and top draw quality wrestling, which you don’t see enough of these days, each move keeping you clinging onto the edge of your seat, sitting back, watching Kurt Angle attempt to hit a flying back moonsault from the top rope, shouting OMFG at the TV set as he flies straight through the air. This was undoubtedly the second best match TNA have put on this year, and dare I say it, the second best match TNA have put on in it’s company history, not bad for a Londoner who’s only been in the company a month.

Although their Final Resolution match didn’t quite step up as much as this one, it made this one even more special, and no matter how hard TNA or the superstars try, I don’t think they could ever recreate the magic that was made on this night.

4. John Morrison vs. Rey Mysterio – Intercontinental Championship – WWE Smackdown 4/9/2009! 

This was not a PPV clash, nor did anyone think it would be as good as it was, but these two men put on a cruiserweight clinic when they faced off on free TV for the Intercontinental Championship. If only this match could have been booked on better terms, and made sense for that matter. Rey Mysterio was being suspended for a month for failing the WWE wellness policy and with Dolph Ziggler being named the number one contender for the belt; it would seem only fair that Mysterio drops the belt to the young and talented Ziggler after months of failing to do so? Wouldn’t it? Not in the eyes of WWE, they needed to put the belt on someone who hadn’t even been contended into the Intercontinental Title mix for quite some time, but, John Morrison, with his quick flash wrestling ability and charming looks, was the perfect baby face, not yet upheld in the midst of a heavy feud to throw the belt too.

However, like I said, if it were on better terms, and we didn’t know the overall outcome before the match had even started, this match was simply phenomenal, and brought to the table a terrific PPV style clash, that I and no doubt the rest of the wrestling fan base would pay to see again in a second. We are still waiting on that rematch by the way, however, more than likely it will be on PPV, but mark my strong words, when the time does come along, don’t be foolish enough to miss out.

5. Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarret – TNA Genesis 2009! 

God, can you believe it’s been nearly a whole year since these two wrestling behemoths met head to head for the second time in Charlotte last January. What a way to kick off TNA’s 2009 this was, although the following two matches on the card proved to be waste less, the world will forever remember TNA Genesis 2009 as the night Double J and the Olympic Gold Medallist went to war on each other. Although this match didn’t quite live up to the hype that their previous match at Bound for Glory did, it was still, undoubtedly the best match on the whole PPV.

Kurt playing his devilish heel role, and by the end, with a blood-soaked Jeff Jarret lying lifelessly in the corner of the ring, Angle just had to take a little more, in one of wrestling’s most real rivalries this year, and one of the most gruelling and painful moments a fan has to sit through, the very real aspect of the match came into play, and brought out the wicked evil side in Kurt Angle [Kayfabe]. However with JJ back and Kurt Angle the baby face worlds greatest wrestler again, the chance of seeing this match repeated in 2010 is slim, but we can always remember the clinic these two legends put on in both 08 and 09.

Hopefully 2010 brings a more prosperous year for Total Non-stop Action wrestling, unlike WWE, TNA has been on somewhat of a rollercoaster ride, with having fantastic PPVs nearer the end of the year and some great matches at the start, were as the more higher power of WWE have all been on a pretty even level for the whole year. 2009 has been a year of triumphs and disappointments, with some fatal tragedies along the way, but with the goose pimples on my arm and the flow of life inside me, I can feel that come this time next year, the wrestling world will be a completely different scene, and a totally different ball game.

Other great match that didn’t quite make the cut!

Money in the Bank Ladder Match – WWE Wrestlemania 25

Jeff Hardy vs. Edge – WWE Extreme Rules

Lethal Lockdown – TNA Lockdown

Jeff Hardy vs. Edge – WWE Royal Rumble

The Royal Rumble – WWE Royal Rumble.

Ryan Devlin.